This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to various aspects of the present invention that are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
In the field of computer systems, an operating system typically is utilized to perform different software programs or applications. The operating system and applications may communicate with peripheral devices and networks through adapters to input and output data. Each of the adapters associated with a peripheral device or network access point may have a specific object name that represents the particular adapter based upon, for example, a slot that the adapter is attached to in the computer system or a name created by another managing component. The operating system may invoke different drivers that manage the interaction between the adapter and its device and other components, such as applications and/or the operating system.
However, if multiple devices are associated with a single slot in the computer system, each of the adapters or devices may be referenced by the same name or may not be identifiable to other system components because the adapters are associated with same slot. This may also occur if a single adapter can provide the functionality of multiple adapters or devices. Furthermore, the association might not be visible to software components, which are designed to exploit the association. Accordingly, if a device or software component receives a notification from a device that does not have a unique or identifiable object name, the receiving device or software component may be unable to directly use the notification because of the resulting ambiguity. As a result, the computer system may not operate as efficiently and system performance is degraded.